Remarkably warm oceans spawned 2017’s massive hurricanes

There’s no doubt that hurricanes are complicated beasts with complex origins. 

But following the Atlantic’s extremely active 2017 hurricane season, a group of scientists at Princeton University’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory have identified a connection between the six major hurricanes — with winds over 110 mph — that churned in the ocean, three of which pummeled the U.S. 

All were supercharged by unusually warm waters, and these warm conditions outweighed other weather factors. 

This research — published on Thursday in the journal Science — has significant climate change implications, as the world is expected to continue its accelerating warming trend.  Read more…

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